ming."

Together with O., I succeeded in stopping two men, who were going
along less rapidly, supporting a wounded comrade who was groaning and
dragging himself on one leg.

"Our flank was turned; there are thousands of them. They came through
the village and enfiladed us. We had a great many killed ... our
officer wounded. We must get back further to the rear."

As they went off haltingly with their comrade, whose groans were
pitiable to hear, the tall figure of a lieutenant of foot Chasseurs
rose suddenly before us. He looked like a ghost, and for a moment we
thought he was about to fall, an exhausted mass, at our feet. His face
was covered with blood. The red mask in which the white of the eyes
formed two brilliant spots was horrible to see. His torn tunic and all
his clothing were saturated with blood. He was gesticulating wildly
with the revolver he clutched in his hands, and seemed absolutely
distraught.

As he passed the Major seized him by the arm:

"Halt! halt! Look here, you must rally your men. We can put up a good
defence here."

The officer wrenched himself free, and went off with hasty strides,
calling to us without turning his head:

"I know what I must do.... We can't hold a line here.... I am going to
form up by the artillery."

Two more men came by, depressed and silent, bent down by the weight of
their knapsacks. They crossed the ditches by the roadside with
difficulty, and were presently lost to sight in the fields amidst the
gathering shadows.

There was no laughter now in our ranks. The same thought was in every
mind, the same despair chilled every heart. The Germans must have
taken our trenches, and our brave comrades had all chosen to die
rather than to retreat. And the enemy must be there before us, in that
wood; they must be stealing up to us noiselessly. I fancied I could
see them, gliding from tree to tree, holding their rifles high, trying
to deaden the sound of their footsteps among the dead leaves.
Presently they would reach the dark line that stretched before us,
mute and mysterious; they would mass their dense reserves in the rear,
and suddenly thousands of lightning flashes would illuminate the
fringe of the thicket. I looked at my men again. There was no sign of
wavering; not a word was spoken; their faces looked a little pale in
the waning light. Above us thousands of shells and bullets filled the
air with their strange and terrible music.

A man came out of the wood and